So, it's been a few years since this chapter was first put up... And I've finally gone back and fixed the previous chapters that were misnumbered. You're welcome.

Chapter Eight

I was relieved to be able to say that Luke finally seemed to be adjusting to Konoha. It had been a couple of weeks since our little scene by the pond. Our journey home had been slow and silent, but the tension between us had dissipated. I wasn't sure that all had been forgiven... but the argument was no longer active, and we hadn't brought it up again since. I'd returned home from my deliveries the next day to find out that Luke had also gotten a job... at a weapons shop. I had to admit this was very cool, but surprisingly, even to myself, I preferred my own job.

Granted, Luke had a better chance of meeting ninja, but I was getting to know more and more about our new home. After all, I wasn't locked up in some shop all day long. So I couldn't say I was particularly jealous. Really, I was just glad Luke wasn't stuck in some sort of permanent funk.

The Ichiraku's Delivery Service had become very popular. I was beginning to learn that some of the regular, everyday civilians were just as interesting as the ninja. Plus, I loved that I got to be outside, surrounded by the village, all day long, and I don't think I could've ended up with a kinder boss. I'd never been the most motivated person around, and I can't say the idea of more responsibility had ever seemed particularly appealing... but I found that I actually enjoyed having my job. And money. Having money was pretty cool too. So maybe I hadn't gained a shiny headband out of this experience. I found I was perfectly content being the delivery girl.

It also gave me plenty of fuel for the conversations with my brother. I'd made a point since our night by the pond to try and communicate with him better, and thus far, it seemed to be working. We were still two very different people, but a familiar peace had settled back over us. Occasionally we would talk about a particular customer that had stuck out during his day, but usually it was stories from my daily adventures that kept us entertained.

For example, there was a lady that I delivered to quite regularly. She had five kids, the oldest one just seven years old. Add in an overhead fan and plenty of small toys and I was in for a barrage of childhood memories.

"Hey, Luke. Do you remember when we were little kids and we used to chuck things up at the fan just to see what it would fly out and hit?" Oh, the trouble we got into for that...

"That was all your idea, I'll have you know."

Silence...

"Okay, mostly your idea."

They were starting to be fewer and fewer of them, but on Teuchi's slow days, I'd made it a habit to go watch Lee train. He'd welcomed my attendance with more enthusiasm than I could have hoped for. Enough so that it didn't feel quite like stalking anymore. I wasn't being creepy; I was being supportive. Yeah...

However, even I could see that it wasn't so much of a stretch anymore. I'd begun to believe that we really were friends. Or on the right track, anyway. I could hardly believe that he hadn't been one of my favorite characters back in my world. Sure, he was a little out there, but he was just such a positive person! And his oddities really were more funny than weird, if looked at the right way. (I'd begun to think the other characters had all been a little shallow and overly judgmental. Even for a first encounter.) And I guess I was a little out there as well for taking my obsession with this world so far. Training was really important to him, and if the closest I got to participating was watching, so be it.

Gai also seemed pretty enthusiastic that I was so interested, but Lee's team mates never really acknowledged my presence. I guess I couldn't really complain. Neji and Tenten had both piqued my interest at one point, but I hadn't obsessed over either of them for quite some time before I'd gotten here. Though I'd sometimes see one of them watching me, they never approached me for conversation.

Which was why it came as such a surprise when Tenten came over one day to talk. During the few, short breaks Lee's team got, he usually spent them talking to me. We'd talk about what they were doing that day and the progress everyone was making. Lee never spoke badly about his team mates, even Neji, despite their proclaimed rivalry. (Just as I had when this had been just a television show, I got the feeling their rivalry was very one-sided. Neji just didn't acknowledge Lee and his skills enough for it to be any different.) The topic usually didn't stray too far from that. Until the day Tenten joined us.

I'll admit to being shocked to speechlessness when she came over and introduced herself. As I told her my own name, I wondered if this was going to be the start of a new trend. I really enjoyed my talks with Lee, but I didn't see how adding Tenten to the conversations could make it worse in some way. Neji, however, was still keeping his distance. But I soon learned that Tenten had joined us not because she was just feeling particularly friendly, but because she had something to talk about.

"Carly, I go into all the weapons shops around here pretty often. Yesterday, I saw a boy behind the counter who looked just like you." She was finished, leaving the floor open for my explanation.

But I couldn't talk for a minute. I was too busy agreeing with the voice in my head that was screaming, What the hell? Luke met Tenten and he didn't tell me?! Of course, it didn't occur to me at the time that he probably didn't recognize her as anyone I would know. Lee and the weapons specialist were both staring by the time I got my voice back.

"Oh, uh, yeah. That's Luke. He's my twin brother." Simple sentences... breathe, Carly. The earful that boy was going to get when I got home...

Tenten nodded, satisfied. "I thought so."

If only to stop her from leaving, I added, "I've seen you practice; you're really good."

She shrugged. She was probably even better than anything I'd ever seen. I doubted practice was time for her to show off.

"It's true," Lee chimed in. "Tenten is amazing."

Now she blushed. Any fangirl watching would immediately add this to their list of why the two should be together, but I didn't see it that way. (And not only because I was a diehard NejiTen fan.) As I'd come to appreciate on a much more personal level recently, Lee was just being himself. Tenten deserved praise, so she was getting it. And I would bet that she got overlooked pretty often, considering both her team mates were geniuses in their own way.

"Thank you," she said before getting up to go sit by Neji. I watched her go. I was going to comment something to Lee, but then I noticed how intently Neji was watching me. With a start, I realized he had activated his Byakugan.

I knew that I was now in a world surrounded by powerful ninja, but for the first time, true fear filled me. At this point in the storyline, Neji wasn't too friendly. He was still filled with a lot of bitterness and hatred. But he wasn't the type to go around beating up annoying civilians... right? Why was he looking at me like that?

"Carly? What's wrong?"

Lee was watching me closely. I could only imagine what my face looked like. His gaze slowly turned to where I'd been looking, but Neji was too skillful to be caught. By the time Lee looked over, his team mate's head had already turned and Neji appeared disinterested once more. Figured.

I made some hurried excuse about getting back to work and took off. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to think. It wasn't like I'd expected Neji to come over and for the four of us to all just become super best friends or anything... but the intensity of his glare was a little much. In fact, what was most disconcerting was that he'd been paying me that much attention to begin with.

As soon as I got back to the stand, Teuchi looked at me with concern. Apparently, I looked more shaken up than I even felt. He wanted to know if I was okay. Was I sick? Did I need to take the rest of the day off?

I stopped to consider this for a moment. No, I wasn't sick. But did I need the day off? No. What I needed was to talk to Luke, and he wouldn't be out of work for a couple hours. No. What I needed was to keep busy until he was free.

I told him I was fine and continued on with the deliveries for the day. I didn't really remember the rest of the day. What I do remember clearly is waiting for Luke to get home. I figured I must've finished work early. Sometimes when I'm... frazzled, I do things more quickly than usual, if only to keep my hands occupied while my mind is going a million miles an hour.

I pounced on him the second Luke walked through the door. (No, not literally.) Unsure where to start, I decided to begin with the least significant of my thoughts. "Why didn't you tell me you met Tenten?"

He looked confused. "...Who?"

"About our age, two buns in her hair."

"Oh... I-"

"Don't you dare tell me you didn't think it was important!" I stopped. Something was wrong. Luke was too quiet. Distracted even. Normally by this point, he'd be playing along and raising his hands in a fake surrender from his insane sister's wrath.

Before I could question him again, he spoke. "I've been thinking that over."

"Thinking what over?"

"Tenten. Yesterday, when she came in... one of her team mates was with her." He looked a little defeated, and I supposed he was, if he had planned to keep this information to himself.

"Which one? Was it Lee?" My indignance at being kept in the dark had already been forgotten. Just how much of this world had Luke become acquainted with without my knowledge?

"No."

"Neji? The quiet one with the white eyes?"

"Oh, he wasn't too quiet yesterday," he muttered, refusing to look me in the eyes.

I raised my eyebrows. There couldn't possibly be another problem concerning Neji, could there? I backed up, letting my brother out of the doorway. We sat down, him in a chair, me flopping down on the couch.

"So, what's going on?"

"If I'd known she was important, I would have told you-"

I waved my hand dismissively. "She's not important. (Sorry, Tenten.) What about Neji?"

"Well, Tenten shows up in the shop a lot. She likes to browse the weapons and sometimes she'll buy something. But this was the first time I saw him with her." He was quiet for another minute. Then, "They were talking about you."

About me?

"W-what about me?" I was almost dreading his answer.

"The boy-Neji? He was saying how you didn't have any... chakra...points." Under any other circumstances, I may have smiled at the way he stumbled over the word.

I tried to wave away the concern that seemed to be building in both of us. Luke may not have known what chakra was, but even he would be able to tell that it was pretty important.

"No worries," I told him, attempting to take on a light tone. "It's probably just because they're not part of human anatomy in our world."

"He didn't seem to see anything off about me..." Luke mumbled, still not looking at me.

A thought struck me. Had Neji sent Tenten over to investigate because it would be out of character- and thus too suspicious- for him? Maybe she'd been looking for something obviously strange about me. Though I liked to think that Lee was more perceptive than that, had he missed something off about me while we talked? Or was he not telling me something?

Because there wasn't a doubt in my mind that Neji was wrong or lying. And this left me with one last question:

What did it mean?

Review please!

Sorry for the wait.

I don't own Naruto!

Revised April 24, 2016.